Taylor, the captain of the Rochester Americans, and Flaherty, the 37-year-old Manitoba Moose goalie, spent part of the 1997-98 IHL season as teammates with the Utah Grizzlies, who were the farm team of the New York Islanders.

'COMPETITOR'

"I've always said it, the guys in the dressing room keep me young and I think they keep him young over there," said Taylor, 33. "He got the taste of winning last year (with the Milwaukee Admirals) and how good it feels, how much he meant to his team. He realizes that if he plays well, anything can happen. He's a competitor. He likes to compete and you can see that out there. You think you have him beat but he gets over there and makes that big save."

READY ROLLING: Former Moose winger Ryan Ready and the Philadelphia Phantoms are one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference final.

Ready assisted on Patrick Sharp's game-winner on Tuesday night as the Phantoms earned a 5-3 win to take a 3-1 series lead over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the East Division final.

Ready, the Moose team MVP in 2002-03, has seven assists in 10 Calder Cup playoff games to sit fourth in team scoring.

Jeff Carter, who helped Canada to a gold medal at the 2005 World Junior Hockey Championship, leads the Phantoms with seven goals and 11 points in 10 games.

Kenora product Mike Richards, the captain of Canada's world junior team in 2005, has two goals and five points in four games with the Phantoms.

SEARCH BEGINS: The Columbia Inferno, the ECHL affiliate of the Moose and Vancouver Canucks, are looking for a new head coach.

A release sent out by the Inferno said the team and Scott White "have mutually agreed not to extend his contract for the 2004-05 season."

White, who was one of the candidates who interviewed for the vacant Moose head coaching job that was eventually filled by Randy Carlyle last summer, had great regular-season success during four seasons behind the Inferno bench, going 161-87-36 with three division titles.

However, playoff success was tougher to come by as the Inferno suffered first-round upsets in each of the past two campaigns.

The Inferno did advance to the Kelly Cup championship in 2002-03, but were defeated 4-1 by the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies.